In the sixth installment in a series of episodes of the State Bar of Texas Podcast recorded from the State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting 2024, the topic focuses on Hernandez v. Texas. The 1954 case Hernandez v. Texas was the first and only Mexican-American civil rights case heard and decided by the United States Supreme Court. In 1951, a criminal case that arose from a bar fight and murder exposed a larger, widespread problem: the systematic exclusion of Mexican-American jurors from service. State Bar of Texas Podcast host Rocky Dhir talks with Justice Gina Benavides, Chief Justice Dori Contreras, and Chris Pineda about how this case led to a landmark civil rights decision that gave all nationalities equal protection under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
Justice Gina M. Benavides was first elected to the 13th Court of Appeals of Texas in 2006 and most recently elected to her third six-year term in 2018.
Chief Justice Dori Contreras was first elected as a justice to the 13th Court of Appeals of Texas in 2002 and was reelected in 2008 and 2014. She was elected chief justice in 2018 and will serve in this position through December 2024. It is her honor to be the first woman chief justice of the 13th Court of Appeals and, at the time of her election, only the second Latina chief justice to serve statewide.
Chris Pineda is an experienced Assistant United States Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Texas. He represents the United States in federal court in various civil litigation matters.
Listen to the episode here:
The State Bar of Texas Podcast is produced in association with the Legal Talk Network.